Spaulding, a New England Institute of Art student, was stabbed to death during an argument prosecutors said exploded into a raucous, blood-spilling brawl after Anthony Spaulding asked guests at a New Year's Eve party at his home in Allston to “quiet down.”

Spaulding was stabbed to death shortly before 2:45 a.m. yesterday by Hub native and college graduate Brian MacDonald, 24, as “both men were rolling on the ground, fighting,” Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Holly Broadbent said today in Brighton District Court, where MacDonald pleaded not guilty to murder and was ordered held on $500,000 cash bail.

Broadbent said MacDonald sustained “a significant cut to his hand” during the altercation and investigators tracked him down to his home in Allston by following a blood trail.

MacDonald, who hid behind a door during his arraignment, was captured “running from the crime scene” by a Pratt Street business' surveillance video camera, Broadbent said.

“It does not depict the actual incident,” she stressed, adding, “There is no evidence that the victim was ever armed.”

Spaulding was studying audio production at the Brookline college, said New England Institute of Art spokeswoman Lesley Valentin. He was only nine credits short of earning his associate's degree.

Friends described him as an aspiring music producer who could play multiple musical instruments.

She said the school president and dean of students were notified yesterday of his death, which she called “tragic.”

“It will affect the whole campus for quite some time for us,” Valentin said today. “The audio students are a close-knit group. We know that he will be missed. … When something like this happens, everybody gets floored.”

MacDonald's attorney Thomas Hoopes said his young client has no criminal history and once troubled his parents so deeply by getting a speeding ticket that they made him pay the fine immediately.

“This is not a murder,” said Hoopes, who asked the court to set bail at $10,000. “It's a New Year's Eve party where everybody had way too much to drink. It's at best self-defense or manslaughter.”

Broadbent said MacDonald went to the party with his girlfriend, who was an invited guest. Spaulding, she said, was in his bedroom. At about 2:40 a.m., she said he stepped out and asked the revelers to “quiet down — that the party was too loud.”

Spaulding and MacDonald quarreled, she said, and soon afterward were tumbling down a staircase together. They then took the fight outside.

Hoopes said MacDonald has a black eye and several bruises.

Valentin said the New England Institute of Art is offering counseling for students, who can call the college's counseling office at 617-739-1700, ext. 4610. Staff can call 1-800-828-6025.